Warning

All my life I have been a very aggressive person. If there is a contest, I always do my best to win. Sometimes a crippling lack of self-worth and insecurity fuels my determination. So in such moments I can go against any odd just to be the best. I know it’s weird but I never mind even if what I do disgusts or bores me to death.

To be honest, trying to be the perfect or the best in everything you do is exhausting.

The first day I did yoga, I wanted to be aggressive and determined as usual. However, yoga changed me totally. In fact, let’s just say I fell in love: my instructor told me that I had to ignore the other students and just focus on my practice. She told me that yoga isn’t about competing, like the other physical workouts I may have encountered.

The ambiguous misconception that yoga is simply stretching is likely based on a misunderstanding of both the human anatomy and yoga. In most avenues of wellness and health advise, the stretching importance is usually given. Yet each time you ask someone if they have an idea about it, they barely know. We tend to associate the sensations we feel each time our bodies are placed in a particular position we are not accustomed to as stretching. And nowadays, each time people are looking to stretch, they often opt to take yoga classes since they don’t have other references. They think that yoga is just an elegant way of stretching out.

If you are worried, stressed, angry, sad or grumpy, this post is just perfect for you.

Recently I have been having my own share of days when I get emotionally attached to negative emotions. Sometime I even find it hard to shake off these feelings. I can get mad if things don’t go my way or react negatively even in situations that are beyond my control. Every time a person fails me I get frustrated and disappointed.

One morning, I was taking my daughter to school. we had woken up late that day so the school bus left before we could get at the pick-up point. “We need to hurry up baby or we will be late”, I shouted. In the back of mind, I knew very well that she doesn’t like hurrying up.

If I called myself a busy bee, then I wouldn’t be wrong. Usually my schedule is so tight. I never know when to stop. I run a business and have to ensure that my kid gets to school and pick her up after school. Other than that, I have to balance other duties like cooking, shopping, laundry and other cleaning jobs in my house. Most days I get to bed and I am so drained and exhausted.

Up until last week I did not know what Yin Yoga is all about. Being an active yogi I kept guessing that this type of yoga was for beginners. I love my intense power yoga sessions, feeling challenged and empowered as I sweat out. So after my last session last week on Friday I thought I should talk to my instructor about Yin. I was curious. I have already done power yoga, silent yoga (yoga with a deaf instructor), yoga in the dark (yoga with a blind instructor while blind folded) and AcroYoga.

The instructor advised me to just join one of the yin classes and get the experience. I have never been afraid of trying new things out. Since my entire week was already scheduled, I thought I should join the Sunday morning session.

Recently I faced a challenging moment in life because I had to have an extremely difficult conversation with a person I love. It’s that conversation you can’t avoid at all and you wish you were somewhere else but there. I was feeling so vulnerable and trapped. In, fact I felt as if I would hurt both or either of us.

I took a deep breath while creating space for the unknown. Suddenly it hit me: I could take such deep breaths because of yoga and I could also sit with myself and analyze any situation before I could react. Yoga had surely taught me to be a good friend to myself and to others.

The kind of lifestyle we live nowadays can wreak havoc on our postures. We spend many hours sitting behind computers at work, taking care of our children, driving in cars and even doing house chores. Over time, the spine begins to curve and the shoulders round forward and we find ourselves moving about the world with spinal alignments that are compromised (or bad posture).

It’s always easy to tell if a person hasn’t practiced yoga before by how they breathe. Usually, regulars take deep breathes through their nose. Even as they do some of the crazy poses like hand stands or side crow, they don’t pant. Although I have not practiced yoga for long, I love watching the newbies, especially those people who have some gym experience.Today I want to tell the story of my favorite practitioner and friend, Eliud.